Construction equipment items such as cranes and excavators are typically delivered to a job site (e.g., a construction site) in multiple pieces or components. Often a construction equipment item is so specialized and/or expensive, that a contractor rents it for a particular use or job, and thus the construction equipment is supplied from a rental company, otherwise known as a “rental yard.” Regardless of the source, many of these items of construction equipment, and components thereof, are expensive and require periodic inspection and maintenance to be safely assembled and operated.
Rental yards and other storage areas for construction equipment components are typically very large, often encompassing numerous acres. For example, a single tower crane may take 20-30 trucks to transport all of the required components to a job site. Thus, such components require a large storage area and may further be widely distributed about this storage area. Moreover, some construction equipment utilizes modular/interchangeable components. Some examples, with respect to a crane, include modular structural components for use in a tower, boom, jib, etc. Because of the modular/interchangeable nature of certain components, many similar or identical components are often stored within a very large storage area.
Organization and tracking of components in storage areas, and at other locations, presents challenges with regard to making certain that components are locatable, that the correct components are stored and retrieved efficiently, that the correct components are inspected as required, that the correct components are maintained as required, and that the components are assembled and operated in a safe fashion. These challenges are compounded by the presence of similar or identical components. Such challenges are not limited to storage areas, but rather, may also be faced on a job site at a manufacturing facility or elsewhere. As such, these challenges impact owners, rental operators, manufacturers, and users of construction equipment items and components.